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Imperial Stout Question
I brewed an Imperial stout last Thursday evening (7/15/10), and got it fermenting at 68-69 degrees in my basement (very stable temps down there). The recipe I followed (no OG given) said to use four liquid yeast packets OR a starter. I was lazy, so I just used the 4 packets of Irish Ale liquid yeast packets. The brew started nicely (fairly aggressively, actually) within 12 hours and was proceeding nicely for the next 2 1/2 days. Then, this morning (Sunday 7/18/10) I checked and the blow off tube has completely stopped pumping out co2 and the krausen is almost gone. I will check the gravity tomorrow morning, but is there a chance I will have to add more yeast? And if so, which kind should I use? This is my first "big" beer, so I am just a bit concerned.
Big beers follow pretty much the same routine as small beers and will sometimes do the bulk of their fermentation in 2-3 days. The difference is they will then take another 1-3 weeks to finish up depending on OG and yaest strain. I would not transfer for at least 3 weeks. Check your gravity in a couple of weeks, these yeasts are usually not super attenuative, so expect about 70-72 % of your OG. Most RIS' recommend a neutral more attenuative yeast like US-05 or cali ale wlp001 or wyeast1056 for this reason. If after a couple of weeks you are less than 70% attenuated, (current SG divided by OG) then I would reccomend pitching a slurry of a couple of packs of US-05.
Keep us informed!
when you say transfer, do you mean to secondary? I do plan on doing a two stage fermentation and dry hopping it, per the recipe.
Yeah I'm sure Thirsty means transfer it to secondary. How long do you plan on keeping it in secondary? I bulk age all of my big beers for about 6 months and then bottle. The ones that I dry hop I won't add the hops until the last week or two of bulk aging so I can keep the aroma as fresh as possible.
the recipe I am following says to add the hops when racking. Since I am bottling, and I have enjoyed homebrews that have aged in the bottles, (and also have never kegged), I was planning on having it in secondary for just a couple of weeks. This has led to favorable outcomes for my tastes. If I were to age it, would I have to add more yeast eventually?
Yeah you'd have to add more yeast when bottling after bulk aging a beer for that long. I usually add half of a packet of rehydrated S05 to my bottling bucket.
I don't want to steer you in another direction and if you like your current process then stick with it. I was just offering up my 2 cents. I started bulk aging my big beers in carboys so that I wouldn't drink all of it before it reached its prime. I find my 9-12% beers need to sit for a while for the flavors to meld and the hot alcohol to diminish.
ok, thanks. I guess I have to regress to my original question: I shouldn't worry about the disappearance of the krausen/blowoff tube activity if the gravity has dropped to an acceptable level? Once again, the recipe I have does not include an initial gravity.
jigosdeck wrote:
ok, thanks. I guess I have to regress to my original question: I shouldn't worry about the disappearance of the krausen/blowoff tube activity if the gravity has dropped to an acceptable level? Once again, the recipe I have does not include an initial gravity.
No. Its fine. I would not open it to check the gravity, I'd just continue to let it ride for at least 3 weeks in the primary, then proceed as you had planned with secondary and your dry hopping routine. Maybe after a total of 7 days, I'd put a traditional airlock on it and remove the blow off set up.
Also if your basement is a stable 68-69F, I'd expect the beer to have been at least at 72F (or more). So its entirely reasonable that the visual signs of fermentation are complete. But the beer will need to keep going as is for a few weeks to really finish out.
Thanks for all your help guys.
I just transfered a RIS to a secondary after 2 weeks in primary. It started at 1.090 and with 2 packs of London Ale 1028 and one US-05 (no starter) it's at 1.020, 78% attenuation. I was keeping my fingers crossed it would be ready for Thanksgiving. I don't see that as a problem, now. It's good; smokey, roasty and just the right amount of sweetness.
At OG 1.090 and FG of 1.020 I calc 9.3% ABV at 68F with 300 calories and 30 carbs per 12 ounce bottle. The sweetness, after 2 weeks, may level out with another 7 days of fermentation. The Residual CO2 comes in at 0.86 volumes so if your naturally carbonating at 68F add in 4.18 ounces of cane sugar per 5 gallons to hit 2.5 volumes of carbonation.
Screwy Brewer
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